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    <title>Aaj TV English News - Sports</title>
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    <pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:40:09 +0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Australia ‘ready for anything India throw at us’ in final</title>
      <link>https://english.aaj.tv/news/30341062/australia-ready-for-anything-india-throw-at-us-in-final</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Australia are adamant they will be “ready for anything” India throw at them in the &lt;a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/trends/world-cup-2023"&gt;Cricket World Cup&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/news/30340676/australia-beat-south-africa-to-face-india-in-world-cup-final"&gt;final&lt;/a&gt; after controversy hit the tournament in a ‘pitch switch’ row.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;India have been the form team of the World Cup, winning all 10 games on their way to Sunday’s showpiece match in Ahmedabad.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But there was &lt;a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/news/30340554/indvsnz-controversy-hits-cricket-as-india-faces-accusations-for-illegally-switching-pitch-ahead-of-semi-final"&gt;controversy&lt;/a&gt; in the &lt;a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/news/30340553/world-cup-india-secure-spot-in-final-after-defeating-new-zealand"&gt;lead-up to their 70-run semi-final win over New Zealand&lt;/a&gt; in Mumbai after it emerged the game was being played on a Wankhede Stadium pitch already used twice before during the tournament rather than a freshly-prepared surface.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“No doubt playing on your own wicket in your own country has some advantages,” Australia captain Pat Cummins told a pre-match press conference on Saturday. “But we’ve played a lot of cricket over here.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“We’ll be ready in terms of anything they’ll throw at us…we’ll make sure we have some plans.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A used pitch had no major bearing on the Mumbai semi-final, with more than 700 runs scored in the game.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Cummins, asked if he had already seen the pitch for the final, replied: “Yeah, just had a look. It looked pretty firm…I think Pakistan played someone there.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;India and arch-rivals Pakistan clashed in Ahmedabad four weeks ago.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The hosts cruised to victory by seven wickets after winning the toss and dismissing their opponents for just 191.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Used pitches generally favour spinners, with slow bowling a key component of a five-man India attack where Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to bowl 20 of their 50 overs on Sunday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Australia have already won the World Cup a record five times and 30-year-old fast bowler Cummins, a member of the victorious 2015 side, was excited by having the opportunity to emulate the likes of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting by leading the team to glory on Sunday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“It would be huge,” he said. “We were all kids not too long ago, watching some of those great teams win the 1999, 2003, 2007 World Cups.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He added: “To be captain would be an absolute privilege…it’d be awesome.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“It (the World Cup) has got the longest history of a world event where all the teams compete.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“You only get a shot at it every four years. So even if you have a long career, you might only play in two of these events. 2015 is still a career highlight for me, but I think tomorrow, if we win, might pip it.”&lt;/p&gt;
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      <content:encoded xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><![CDATA[<p><strong>Australia are adamant they will be “ready for anything” India throw at them in the <a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/trends/world-cup-2023">Cricket World Cup</a> <a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/news/30340676/australia-beat-south-africa-to-face-india-in-world-cup-final">final</a> after controversy hit the tournament in a ‘pitch switch’ row.</strong></p>
<p>India have been the form team of the World Cup, winning all 10 games on their way to Sunday’s showpiece match in Ahmedabad.</p>
<p>But there was <a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/news/30340554/indvsnz-controversy-hits-cricket-as-india-faces-accusations-for-illegally-switching-pitch-ahead-of-semi-final">controversy</a> in the <a href="https://www.aajenglish.tv/news/30340553/world-cup-india-secure-spot-in-final-after-defeating-new-zealand">lead-up to their 70-run semi-final win over New Zealand</a> in Mumbai after it emerged the game was being played on a Wankhede Stadium pitch already used twice before during the tournament rather than a freshly-prepared surface.</p>
<p>“No doubt playing on your own wicket in your own country has some advantages,” Australia captain Pat Cummins told a pre-match press conference on Saturday. “But we’ve played a lot of cricket over here.”</p>
<p>“We’ll be ready in terms of anything they’ll throw at us…we’ll make sure we have some plans.”</p>
<p>A used pitch had no major bearing on the Mumbai semi-final, with more than 700 runs scored in the game.</p>
<p>Cummins, asked if he had already seen the pitch for the final, replied: “Yeah, just had a look. It looked pretty firm…I think Pakistan played someone there.”</p>
<p>India and arch-rivals Pakistan clashed in Ahmedabad four weeks ago.</p>
<p>The hosts cruised to victory by seven wickets after winning the toss and dismissing their opponents for just 191.</p>
<p>Used pitches generally favour spinners, with slow bowling a key component of a five-man India attack where Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to bowl 20 of their 50 overs on Sunday.</p>
<p>Australia have already won the World Cup a record five times and 30-year-old fast bowler Cummins, a member of the victorious 2015 side, was excited by having the opportunity to emulate the likes of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting by leading the team to glory on Sunday.</p>
<p>“It would be huge,” he said. “We were all kids not too long ago, watching some of those great teams win the 1999, 2003, 2007 World Cups.”</p>
<p>He added: “To be captain would be an absolute privilege…it’d be awesome.</p>
<p>“It (the World Cup) has got the longest history of a world event where all the teams compete.</p>
<p>“You only get a shot at it every four years. So even if you have a long career, you might only play in two of these events. 2015 is still a career highlight for me, but I think tomorrow, if we win, might pip it.”</p>
]]></content:encoded>
      <category>Sports</category>
      <guid>https://english.aaj.tv/news/30341062</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 18 Nov 2023 20:06:35 +0500</pubDate>
      <author>none@none.com (AFP)</author>
      <media:content url="https://i.aaj.tv/large/2023/11/18195926d800088.webp?r=195952" type="image/webp" medium="image" height="480" width="800">
        <media:thumbnail url="https://i.aaj.tv/thumbnail/2023/11/18195926d800088.webp?r=195952"/>
        <media:title>Australia captain Pat Cummins has urged his team to “embrace” the challenge of a hostile home crowd in the World Cup final against India. AFP
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